Friday, February 20, 2015

Haven’t been there before, two maps that don’t quite agree,
don’t know what trail conditions are like, a long drive to and from:all good prerequisites for an adventurous
exploratory Carolina Berg Wanderers hike.I posted my desire to hike to the Camp Creek Bald Lookout Tower on the Bergs
Meetup page and got a good response from a cross-section of hikers.To my amazement, even the “old-timers” had
never done this hike before.We would
truly all be “first-timers.”

Where is Camp Creek Bald Lookout Tower?It sits just a smidge away from the
Appalachian Trail, 20 trail miles north of Hot Springs, NC.There are several ways to reach it:hike north or south on the AT, of course, or drive
close to it via a Tennessee access road, or (my choice) hike a few miles on a lollipop
route originating on a North Carolina gravel road in Pisgah National Forest.

Nine hikers tumbled out of cars at the trailhead, pulling on
boots, opening trekking poles, deciding on layers (how cold does it feel?How long until I warm up?).The sky was deep blue and the trail was
waiting.

Off to a grand start on an impressive multi-section bridge (Jeff's photo)

A few obstacles on Hickey Fork Trail, but overall conditions
were better than I expected

The trail climbed alongside the West Prong of Hickey Fork
Creek for about 1.5 miles.It was not at
all tempting to go down this waterslide

At the bottom of the slide, I’m looking skeptical

Hard to see even in wintertime with minimal foliage, but
Jeff got a good photo anyway – a 30-foot unnamed waterfall on West Prong of
Hickey Fork

Icy chill

Once the trail left the creek the serious climbing started, at
times crazy steep to the point where swear words were necessary to stay
motivated.The only two short
switchbacks were near Seng Gap; 20 switchbacks would have been helpful.But this is a national forest, not a national
park, and different guidelines for trail building and maintenance apply.

On a steep trail it’s imperative to stop often to enjoy the
view

Seng Gap was confusing with five intersecting trails and
required some thought to choose the correct one, even using the guidebook
narrative, because signage was missing.This was the end of Hickey Fork Trail and we turned right onto Pounding
Mill Trail, still going up but at a more moderate grade.

About a mile later we reached another inter- section, this one
at White Oak Flats Trail.We took a
short break to gather everyone together and make note that on the return hike
this would be the decision point for a loop back to the car or just go back the
way we came.We were plenty warmed up by
now. (Jeff's photo)

A bit of snow

The climbing wasn’t over.In fact, the total hike to the lookout tower is 5.5 miles and 3,000 feet
elevation gain.That is a serious
workout, but isn’t it better outdoors than in a gym?Jennifer, who was hiking with us for the
first time in almost a year, began to lag behind a tiny bit, worrying about
being last.Mike hung with her and
encouraged her, reminding her that she would arrive at the same place as
everyone else just a few minutes later (true).

I hiked alone for the last mile until the trail reached the
AT, where I paused to wait for Mike, Jeff and Jennifer.A little hiker humor here.

When they reached the sign, Jennifer decided to stop and eat
there rather than push on the last .2 miles to the tower, a smart decision because
she knew her body needed the fuel.We
continued on and checked out the tower amidst all the communication junk.

The tower cab was locked so we were only able to
climb up the stairs.A stiff wind was
blowing and I struggled to hold my camera still.

Mike and me at Camp Creek Bald Lookout Tower – challenge completed!

We found the rest of the crew eating lunch behind a service
building in a spot protected from the wind.And who should appear but Jennifer, well fed and feeling better!She confessed that today was the first time
she had stepped onto the Appalachian Trail.No wonder she stopped to eat there and have a private moment.

Perusing the guidebook’s trail map (much more detailed than the NatGeo #782 map), we decided to try a
short alternate route back to Pounding Mill Trail.We hiked south on the AT for about a half-mile
(Jennifer’s first hike on the AT!) and then left the trail to bushwhack.(Wintertime is the right time for
bushwhacking.)In less than a hundred
yards we connected with Pounding Mill Trail, cutting off more than a mile, and enjoyed
the downhill back to the intersection with White Oak Flats.

At that junction everyone opted to take White Oak Flats,
making the loop of the lollipop route and avoiding the steepest section we had
climbed.White Oak Flats is a longer
trail, so we added back the mile we had cut off, but with a more gentle
descent.I assumed that this trail would
be similar to the other trails we had seen so far, but I was wrong.It started out along an old forest road, but
soon dropped off onto a much narrower, less distinct trail.Wasn’t hard to follow, just a different
character, a lesson not to ever make assumptions in the woods.

White Oak Flats Trail (Jeff's photo)

The trail ended at FS 465 facing a 1.4-mile walk to our cars.
Although it was a flat walk, it felt
like a lot more than 1.4 miles.The last
mile is always the longest because at the end of a hike your pace slows down
without realizing it.

Light fading

We finished the hike with some daylight left before 5:00
p.m., which made me very happy, no injuries, everyone accounted for and ready
for Mexican food.Bring on the
margaritas!

And will the next hiking challenge please stand up?

“I am always more interested in what I am about to do than
what I have already done.”~Rachel
Carson

Friday, January 16, 2015

On New Year’s Day I like to hang around the house with my
blanket and a cup of coffee and the newspaper.I break out my new calendar, writing in birthdays and anniversaries and
other activities already planned.I
daydream about travel and projects, looking at last year’s list and creating
new lists.It’s a very chill day.

On January 2, though, I’m ready for a little adventure.Let’s pull out that lookout tower challenge
list.Chambers Mountain looks like a
long-ish drive and a short hike, but that’s okay with me.

The goal of these lookout tower hikes isn’t necessarily the hike
but the view and I have found the rewards to be mixed.Sometimes all you get is a bunch of communication
towers cluttered around.Sometimes the
view is just phenomenal (like Panther Top).Well, Chambers Mountain is worth the hike on the gravel road – heck,
even the hike is worth the hike.

The Chambers Mountain fire tower was erected in 1934 and is
one of only two in western NC that is still routinely staffed.The operator lives in a small house at the
base of the tower.

Lookout Point, the gravel access road to the tower, is just
a few miles from Clyde, NC.I wedged my
car into the single wide spot near the locked gate and prepared for a solitary
walk up the mountain on this chilly Friday.As I shouldered my pack, I heard a car – wait, make that three minivans
loaded with people.They pulled up and a
cheerful woman hopped out and unlocked the gate.She said that they had a cabin nearby and
asked for the key to the gate so many times that the Forest Service finally just
gave them one.They were going to drive
up to the tower and walk down.Huh.

I ate their dust as I slowly walked up the road cutting
through open pastures.I haven’t hiked
since early November.The last couple of
months involved more work hours and eating large quantities of holiday
food.Moving at a sustainable pace,
breathing the crisp air, lost in my thoughts, I finally remembered to lift my
head and take a look around.

Cow corral

I walked backwards until the road dipped back
into the trees, soaking in the view.How can you get enough of this?

Near the summit I encountered the crowd that had driven up,
must have been a dozen of them, an extended family of grandparents, parents,
children.They cheerfully greeted me and
I told them that they weren’t working hard enough, a good laugh all around…but
I meant it.At least I had the place to
myself again.

When the tower farm came into view I could see the lowly
fire tower towards the back of the bunch as I walked the curving road. The
resident dog began to bark with all his might from his chain link pen. He was just doing his job as guard dog, but
this fellow seemed capable of getting over that fence – which was between me
and the tower steps.I didn’t want to
antagonize him further by walking within five feet of him.A truck was parked at the house and I waited for the tower operator to come out
to check the alarm being raised, but after several minutes no one
appeared.Either he wasn’t there or he
saw me from a window and didn’t perceive me to be a problem.

I didn’t try to go up the tower, but instead enjoyed the
view with the incessant barking soundtrack.

Walking back down the road was equally awesome.At one of the switchbacks I saw an old fence
with an opening and steps and some extra barbed wire.

Some locals had moved into the pasture while I was up
top.They didn’t mind posing.

All queued up

A four-mile hike and a four-hour drive, not something I
would do every day, but it was a great kick-off to a new year.I’d like to visit this place again in spring or
fall (definitely not summer).One more
fire tower to go to finish the challenge!

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Cathy and Becky joined me on my final hike on the
Appalachian Trail in Virginia.I saved
this section for last because Dragon’s Tooth is an iconic feature of the AT.Our shuttle Driver, Joe, took us to our
starting point at the parking area on VA 620 where my car battery died on mybirthday and we headed northbound.

The weatherman was wrong again and not in our favor, as
a light misty rain followed us for the first couple of hours.We stayed chilly all day in long pants
and gloves.

Side trail to Pickle Branch Shelter.Apparently thru hikers don’t have a high
opinion of it.

Walking through Miller’s Cove, I love the starkness of bare
tree trunks and fallen leaves

I was surprised to see this rock wall as the trail ascended
Cove Mountain

A little leaf color still hanging around

First view today

Most leaves were off the trees and piled high on the trail,
which looks benign at first but is deceptively dangerous.We couldn’t see rocks and roots and holes and
it was difficult to gauge the depth.White
blazes became essential to follow because we seldom could see the bare
trail.Leaves are also very slippery
even when they aren’t wet.Over the
course of the day Cathy and I each fell twice, Becky three times, serious slippin’,
slidin’, hurtin’ falls with bruises and small cuts.

Becky:it’s all fun
and games until someone gets hurt

On Cove Mountain, perhaps the strangest bent tree I’ve ever
seen

We hiked three miles with no landmarks approach- ing the top
of Cove Mountain, hard to judge our distance. I could feel myself tanking and we all needed
to stop to fuel up.The wind was brisk
and we looked for a protected place out of the wind and hunkered down to eat a
late lunch.Ten minutes later we saw
this gorgeous view (but it would have been too windy to eat here anyway).

Looking at North Mountain

Then the highlight of this section:Dragon’s Tooth, a Silurian sandstone monolith
(for you rock people) in a rock outcropping with a broad view of Catawba
Valley.Just a couple of other people
there, unlike the crowds on a weekend, but we got our photo taken.We were lucky to have the place to ourselves
for a little while.

At Dragon’s Tooth

Climbing up (or down?)

Becky was the bravest as she made it to the top…but crawling
back down wasn’t easy.Cathy and I
wimped out at that last bit of scrambling.

Cathy, Becky and me at Dragon's Tooth

The AT northbound descending from Dragon’s Tooth was
technical in some places, a couple of ladders and some iron handholds driven
into the rocks.This was slow going and
again I was glad that there were no other people to work around.

At Lost Spectacles Gap we passed the side trail to the
parking lot access for Dragon's Tooth day trippers.

At Viewpoint Rock

We crossed VA 624 and walked through a series of open
pastures and stiles

And wooden bridges over streams

A mile-and-a-half later we crossed VA 785 and faced a crazy steep
climb through open pasture and into woods to the top of Catawba Mountain, where
we stopped to rest and regroup.At this
point we admitted that distance and time were not in our favor and we would run
out of daylight before the end of our hike.Now the question was:how long
would we hike in the dark?We all had
headlamps…

Along the rocky ridge top locally known as Sawtooth Ridge we
followed ups and downs, taking care looking for blazes and picking our way
through more deep leaves.Cathy took
another fall and this time it hurt.As
the sun sunk far down below the mountains, the sky glowed a beautiful
pink-orange – and then it was dark.

We didn’t have a good idea of how far we were from the end
but hoped it was only a short distance.Not so.Becky’s headlamp didn’t
work consistently, flashing on and off like a lightning bug, and we all slowed
our paces significantly.Over an hour
later, we emerged at our parking lot on VA 311.No photos, no cheers for the end of my AT project in Virginia.But I didn’t feel disappointment as much as I
felt relief to be out of the woods.

Overall, though, it was a grand day, hiking with good
friends, and Dragon’s Tooth is a very special place.Any day in the woods is a gift.

What next?

“Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a
new way of life.” ~John Muir.

“When the wind blows, you know that somewhere in the
mountains it has found the answers you were looking for.The pull of the horizon overcomes the inertia
of reason…and you just have to go.”~Vikram Oberoi

Smoky Scout's Hiking Adventures

How do you handle a midlife crisis? I chose to head mine off at the pass. As my 50th birthday and the empty nest of my last child leaving for college approached, I set a huge goal for myself of hiking all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – in one year. I am very proud to say that I accomplished my goal, walking 1,075 miles between April 11, 2008 and April 11, 2009. While completing the challenge in itself was rewarding, the process led to new friendships, new skills (including blogging) and a new sense of self.

Now I’m a dayhiker and backpacker rambling around the mountains of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia…and occasionally venturing much farther. I’ve got a lot of good years left, a lot of new trails to travel, and I plan to die with my hiking boots on.

Walking Miles For Girl Scouts

I hiked all the trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in one year as a personal challenge and to raise funds for outdoor programs for Girl Scouts in North Carolina. There are over 800 miles of trails and I walked over 1,000 miles to cover them all! Over $4,000 was donated to my local council, Girl Scouts, Hornets' Nest Council.

Kids need to get outdoors for physical and mental health, recreational and environmental awareness reasons. Donations to this challenge can help to fund camp scholarships, backpacking equipment, even a hike group for inner-city girls. The needs are great and the benefits are even greater.

I continue to support Girl Scouts by planning and leading outdoor camping weekends, parent/daughter outdoor events and monthly dayhiking outings.